The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[DJeXeL]

Seems a little excessive even if the chain had to be manufactured but you may be right. Sucks nonetheless.

[JeromyL]

Seems a little excessive even if the chain had to be manufactured but you may be right. Sucks nonetheless.

 

Maybe. But let's be honest. That's a huge lift hill and thick chain. You figure they would either bid out the work. Or shop around for a good deal. That probably would take at least a little bit of the time

[TopThrill182]

Maybe maintenance will use X2's closure as an opportunity to do an extended rehab on the trains and make the ride more comfortable??? #dreaming

[simaticable]

Maybe the issue with X2 will make SFMM realize that they should have an extra chain lift in case something like this happens again. Then again, we are talking about SFMM here.

[cmullin]

Maybe the issue with X2 will make SFMM realize that they should have an extra chain lift in case something like this happens again. Then again, we are talking about SFMM here.

Cut them some slack, how many parks just have and extra chain sitting around for each coaster, I mean how often does a lift hill break?

[JeromyL]

I agree. That stuff is expensive. And it's not like each ride uses the same size. It would be like you owning 19 different cars and keeping a stereo for each one. How often DO they break?

[Tmcdllr]

Maybe maintenance will use X2's closure as an opportunity to do an extended rehab on the trains and make the ride more comfortable??? #dreaming

 

 

That's really funny!

[XYZ]

I've heard before that there is a system where you pay for an all-day fluffy, fluffy bunny and you can take your items out and put them in a different fluffy, fluffy bunny in the park for free. Does SFMM still do this?

 

Also, I'm just wondering if SFMM still has a forced fluffy bunny policy.

 

I don't want to cause a debate about fluffy bunnies, I just want to get my facts straight.

[SFMMGeek27]

I was looking on Instagram and found this picture someone took outside of the Total Darkness FF maze. This sounds really awesome/scary!

Electric shock devices!?!?

Also, NO safe zones this year! Looking like it's gonna be a great year.

[Wes]

Maybe the issue with X2 will make SFMM realize that they should have an extra chain lift in case something like this happens again. Then again, we are talking about SFMM here.

 

So you're saying an extra chain is better than nothing?

[singemfrc]

I've heard before that there is a system where you pay for an all-day fluffy, fluffy bunny and you can take your items out and put them in a different fluffy, fluffy bunny in the park for free. Does SFMM still do this?

 

Also, I'm just wondering if SFMM still has a forced fluffy bunny policy.

 

I don't want to cause a debate about fluffy bunnies, I just want to get my facts straight.

I know that they have the new electronic fluffy bunnies that give you a code and that you can open and close it all day, I dont remember specifically if you could change locations at SFMM, but I know SFDK has the same fluffy bunnies and you can change locations, so it's probably the same.

 

Different rides have varying levels of fluffy bunny policies. Generally with rides like X2 and GLFF they're more strict about loose items and will be quicker to force you to use the fluffy bunnies. X2 is the strictest which is why they have fluffy bunnies inside the station (These ones are not the new electronic type, theyre old school, but I think theyre only $1 or $2) - not that any of this matters right now with X2 being down but useful info for the future.

[SFMMGeek27]

^X2 has the new ones too.

 

You can move locations now and you will NEVER have to use them if you don't want to. You can always leave your loose articles on the station floor or in bins at attractions. GLFF doesn't even have lockers, nor anything else newer than Apocalypse (and they got rid of theirs almost a year ago.)

[Jew]

I was looking on Instagram and found this picture someone took outside of the Total Darkness FF maze. This sounds really awesome/scary!

 

I'm sure it's just like one of those joke pens that "shock" you when you click it...probably really annoying and not very scary.

[XYZ]

I've heard before that there is a system where you pay for an all-day fluffy, fluffy bunny and you can take your items out and put them in a different fluffy, fluffy bunny in the park for free. Does SFMM still do this?

 

Also, I'm just wondering if SFMM still has a forced fluffy bunny policy.

 

I don't want to cause a debate about fluffy bunnies, I just want to get my facts straight.

I know that they have the new electronic fluffy bunnies that give you a code and that you can open and close it all day, I dont remember specifically if you could change locations at SFMM, but I know SFDK has the same fluffy bunnies and you can change locations, so it's probably the same.

 

Different rides have varying levels of fluffy bunny policies. Generally with rides like X2 and GLFF they're more strict about loose items and will be quicker to force you to use the fluffy bunnies. X2 is the strictest which is why they have fluffy bunnies inside the station (These ones are not the new electronic type, theyre old school, but I think theyre only $1 or $2) - not that any of this matters right now with X2 being down but useful info for the future.

 

^X2 has the new ones too.

 

You can move locations now and you will NEVER have to use them if you don't want to. You can always leave your loose articles on the station floor or in bins at attractions. GLFF doesn't even have fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo, nor anything else newer than Apocalypse (and they got rid of theirs almost a year ago.)

 

Thanks for the information!

[wrs28330]

Theme Park Review was invited to Six Flags Magic Mountain this past Saturday to experience all that Fright Fest has to offer! In addition to enjoying the rides throughout the day, we met the Public Relations team on Samurai Summit at the Fright Fest with the Willoughby’s before exploring the mazes and scare zones.

 

Six Flags Magic Mountain is admittedly in the middle of a multi-year expansion for Fright Fest. Last year, the main focus was the complete overhaul of the oldest Fright Fest maze, Willoughby’s Haunted Mansion. With a complete reworking of the maze and the addition of multimedia based technology, the maze reopened as Willoughby’s Resurrected. This year, the focus was on the non-maze offerings. The biggest changes were visible in the number of scare zones as well as the large scale production dubbed “VooDoo Nights” in the Full Throttle plaza area.

The total number of scare zones raised this year to seven from last year’s six. The Hillbilly area was removed, making way for two new themed areas.

The total number of mazes is at eight this year, with three of them being billed as “new”.

Returning mazes include: Willoughby’s Resurrected, The Aftermath, Black Widow, Chupacabra, and Cursed.

New mazes include: Weepy Hills INSANEtorium, Toys of Terror, and Total Darkness.

 

Fright Feast with the Willoughby’s – Though this offering is on the pricey side, it is very popular with park guests, and frequently sells-out for each seating. An all-you-can-eat buffet is included along with the Willoughby family that walks around the restaurant to meet with you while you eat. It is sometimes difficult to get pictures with the monsters at Halloween events, so this is a great way to ensure you get some great pictures with the freakish ghouls. Also included in the seating reservation is a magic show featuring Michael Turco, of America’s Got Talent fame. The show was entertaining, and a nice family-friendly addition to the feast!

 

Thoughts on the returning maze:

Willoughby’s Resurrected – One of the two better mazes at the event. With the remodel that took place last year, and the large number of scare actors, this maze continues to deliver good scares. Each room felt full between the intricate (for Six Flags standards) details, as well as the teamwork of the scare actors. One actor would be a distraction, while another actor would pop out from an unexpected location to deliver a good scare.

 

The Aftermath – Housed in the former Batman show theater, this maze also has higher quality theming and set pieces, lending to a stronger story. The lighting and fog in this outdoor space help to mask the area outside the theater, making it feel like a real post-apocalyptic world.

 

Black Widow – Placed in the former Eagle’s Flight station on Samurai Summit, this maze was a rehash from last year. Minimal theming, and only a small handful of actors left much to be desired.

 

Chupacabra – Housed in the former Revolution extended queue. Same thoughts as Black Widow…. Last year there was an actor in a full Chupacabra costume; this year, a wolf mask.

 

Cursed – Set up in the Tidal Wave queue, this maze doesn’t seem to have an identity. It is billed as a gypsy and werewolf maze, but all I saw was a few shrouded actors walking through camo netting.

With the continued Fright Fest expansion in the years to come, I can only hope that Black Widow, Chupacabra, and Cursed get some much needed attention.

 

As for the new mazes:

Weepy Hills INSANEtorium – Located in a warehouse near DC Universe and formerly Lecter’s Slaughterhouse. This maze consisted of ALL black walls, and the most minimal of theming elements used merely to suggest a scene that didn’t actually exist. The talent relied on “blinder” lights to remain out of sight until the right time to scare the guest by moving forward from under the blinder to become visible. In all honesty, this was the biggest let down of the entire event. The talent was given nothing to work with, and we the guests walked through a maze with black walls…

 

Total Darkness: (The maze where black walls, actually works.) Located in the Magic Moments Theater. Total Darkness is a rehash of last year’s Blackout maze in the Log Jammer queue. This maze relies solely on the notion that fear can build in darkness. While this fear does work for some, it certainly does not work for everyone. Though the maze wasn’t the most exciting for me personally, there were several things operationally that I really appreciated. First, having the maze in darkness, allows for the same scare actors to scare the same groups multiple times without having to worry about repeating a scare. This makes the maze feel full of actors when in reality there may have only just been a few. It’s a great way to make a maze feel full! Secondly, it seems that there are two mazes built on the stage of the theater; one on the right and one on the left. Essentially, each group let into the maze would only experience one of the sides. This means that the maze smartly doubles its capacity. The maze was more than long enough with only utilizing half of the stage, so as a fan of good throughput, this was a fantastic operational decision to keep the line for the maze as short as possible!

 

Toyz of Terror: (Formerly Jokester’s Hideout). Jokester’s Hideout has desperately needed a refresh for many years, and it finally got one! It has been rethemed to a toy inventor gone mad, and features an entirely new paint job, as well as the removal of all of the show stops throughout the maze. The pace of the maze is much improved, and everything is nice and fresh!

 

Scare Zones:

Demon’s Door –Placed at the Main Gates, this area serves as a nice way to get people ready for what the event has in store. The actors are dressed in hellish costumes, and all have distinct animal/creature essences that allow for fun characterizations! The scare actors had great energy, well defined characters, and are able to fill a rather large Main Gate area. Very well done!

 

Zombie Xing – This new area is located on the path from The Golden Bear Theater to the Wascal’s restaurant outside of Bugs Bunny World. Though this zone had plenty of scare actors, the energy was very low due to zombies not having much energy to begin with. For me, this was a nice attempt at a new offering, but I would like to see a higher energy type monster utilized next year.

 

Exile Hill – The area on top of Samurai Summit is VERY dark, and it was difficult to see who was another guest, and who was a scare actor. When I was able to determine a scare actor, the area was still too dark to appreciate any of the intricate make-up that was used on the performers.

 

Nightmares – A Twisted Fantasy – This area is located on the path from Viper leading to Roaring Rapids and utilizes black light make-up. It is fun to see some fairytale characters come to life in a nicely imagined bright world. This wooded area also helps keep the fog lying nice and low to provide easy hiding for the scare actors.

 

The Wastelands – Located outside of The Apocalypse maze, and used to help bring in people to the maze. The actors were trying their best to fill a large area, but with only a few set pieces to hind near, they are very visible to the guests.

 

Gypsy Hollow – Located outside of the Cursed maze. Werewolves on jumping stilts steal the show in this area just by the sheer “wow” factor of having performers on jumping stilts walking through a very foggy area.

 

City Under Siege – This scare zone in DC Universe continues to be one of the biggest draws of the entire event. This comic-book style area comes to life with larger-than-life playful characters dressed in bright costumes. Not many of the scare actors at the event seemed comfortable talking, but in City Under Siege, the fun and cheeky banter between ghoul and guest make for a fun exchange. A laser field positioned above the buildings in the area creates a ceiling when the fog in the area passes through it. This effect helps push your attention down the long street in the DC Universe area.

 

Other items to note:

For the little ones, Bugs Bunny World hosts a Harvest Fest for the kids during the day. This includes a costume contest, an arts and crafts area, and a trick or treat trail where the rides stop operating for 15 minutes or so, and all the ride operators pass out candy to the kids. It was a very popular offering amongst the guests.

 

 

Signage informs guests that the Bugs Bunny World rides close at 7pm, as the monsters take over the park. Closing the family area is a new strategy this year, and may serve two purposes. One, it seems as a strong suggestion to parents that the night offerings are not meant for children, and leaving the park may be a good idea. Secondly, this may help add staffing to other areas of Fright Fest. If the closure of this area is successful, may we see more changes in the future? We’ll see...

 

 

VooDoo Nights – One of the biggest surprises of the night was how alive the Full Throttle plaza was with guests all night long. A DJ played music, while a drummer would drum along to the song, adding a bit more flare to the atmosphere. A dance group, and “Minute to Win It” style games would also come up every few minutes to keep guests entertained. Though this offering wasn’t necessarily my favorite, it was very clear that this is the exact type of entertainment a majority of the park’s guests wanted. Magic Mountain hit the nail on the head with this one!

 

This event is known in the enthusiast realm as a good place for Halloween event “beginners”, and I would say the same about the event this year. Though a majority of the mazes and scare zones can in fact be “scary” for some people, what the event lacks compared to USH and Knott’s is the quality of maze and area design. Willoughby’s and Aftermath are of course the exception, which is why they are clearly the more popular mazes.

 

Remember that this is not a separate ticketed event, but access to the mazes is a flat fee of $15 for non-season pass holders, and $13 for season pass holders. Express Maze Passes are also available for purchase (around $40 depending on the day and availability). If you want to guarantee that you will be able to experience everything at the event, I would highly recommend purchasing the express pass. I was able to see all 8 mazes and the scare zones in only three hours. This left plenty of time to see VooDoo Nights and go back for more trips through the mazes, making it a great buy!

 

 

Lastly, the park invited us to try a new funnel cake at Suzette’s Bakery for Fright Fest! It is called the Grim Turtle funnel cake, and it was incredible! I wasn’t too sure about having chocolate batter used for the funnel cake, but it added a great flavor to the treat!

 

A very big “thank you” to Sue Carpenter and Connie Lujan for inviting us to see why this event continues to grow each year. Thank you to Neal Thurman for taking time to talk with us about the event, and highlighting each of the offering for us. Lastly, a thank you to Park President Bonnie Rabjon for taking time to welcome us to the park during this festive time of year!

 

Though there is still room for improvement, the changes the park has been making to bring this event to the next level are great, and we are hopeful that the future holds more great things for Fright Fest!

Welcome to Fright Fest!

Maze wristbands can be purchased at the large stores throughout the park.

Fright Fest Map

In Bugs Bunny World.

Lots of Trick or Treating!

The Looney Tunes characters are dressed in their Halloween costumes as well.

Time to DInE with the Willoughbys!

Creepy food!

The BBQ tri-tip pizza was one of the best food items I have ever had at this park!

You get quality time with the monsters at this feast.

The magic of Michael Turco, with the Willoughby dancers.

Willoughby's Haunted Mansion.

The Aftermath

This maze has a fun beginning, by having guests go through a blinding hallway before they find themselves in the middle of a post-apocalyptic world.

FIRE!!!!

Black Widow.

Chupacabra.

The Cursed entrance. It was too dark for any decent photos.

At the gas station at the end of Cursed is sponsored by Cartoon Network, and they are handing out FREE STICKERS! STICKERS!!!!!!!!!!

The entrance for Weepy Hills INSANEtorium.

The entrance of Total Darkness.

Toyz of Terror.

Lots of fun new scenes.

Creepy scare actors.

"Dance monkey, dance!"

Demon's Door.

Lots of fun characters!

Zombie Xing

A stilt walker in Exile Hill.

The pathway under Revolution houses the Nightmares scare zone.

In the Wastelands scare zone.

The Gypsy Hollow scare zone, located near Tidal Wave.

The Gargoyle in DC Universe.

A very entertaining dance group at VooDoo Nights.

The house band.

The Full Throttle area stays busy all night.

The Jumbotron features clips of the different Fright Fest offerings at night, which differs from the daytime video content.

Clip from the Nightmares scare zone.

A SFMM trip isn't complete until you have a funnel cake!

Let's try the Grim Turtle!

Mmmmm, yummy and spooky!

Thank you to Six Flags Magic Mountain again for a great evening! Have a great Halloween season!

More free stuff!!!! Lots and lots of Orbit gum!

[dylanreich]

That looked like a pretty fun trip! I'll be going to Fright Fest for the first time this month, and it looks like it'll be pretty good!

But, shouldn't these guys be out at night?

Beware kids, YOLO

[805Andrew]

^Hopefully this guy will be there too.

[Sir Clinksalot]

Great stuff William. It was nice seeing you on Saturday.

[Xcoaster]

I went last night for my first Fright Fest visit since 2011. After arriving at about 6:30, I bought my wristband at the booth outside Flags, though I found later that they were selling wristbands at many stores throughout the park. Also, didn't Gold Season Passes once get you a free wristband? Anyways, from there I went to Ninja, which was running only one train, so the wait was about 20 minutes.

 

My first maze after Ninja was Willoughby's Resurrected, which must have opened a little early, since it was still a little before 7pm. There was no wait, and this was my first visit since the renovation. Overall, I was very impressed; they had a good amount of talent (unfortunately, largely shaker cans), and the sets were great looking. There were some good uses of projection effects, such as having tendrils of darkness coming out of a wall, rats in the ceiling, and moving paintings. They also had a couple preshows; one where they took your photo, and another with a spiel by the butler, which I felt was well done. My only complaint would be that I didn't get many scares, but that may have just been because I too busy admiring the details. I'd give the maze at least a 7/10.

 

Following Willoughby's, I got in line for Black Widow at about 7pm. Unfortunately, this was a bad idea, as the short line didn't move at all for about 25 minutes. In the meantime, I got to watch some scare-actors working their magic. Two or three of them would double-team guests as they went down the hill, and because of the darkness, people usually didn't notice them until it was too late. There was also a girl leading around a large shaggy dog-like monster, and when asked what he ate, she replied "Babies! So many babies...". Thought that was cute.

 

Anyways, eventually the line moved and Black Widow happened. The interior looked like someone covered Bitten in webbing and added some spiders. There were a fair amount of actors, but too many of them were relying on shaker cans, and there were few scares to be had. I'd probably give this one a 3/10.

 

From there I went down the hill to Aftermath, which was about a 5 minute wait. The surrounding scare zone is decent looking, but the actors don't have anywhere to hide, so they seem to be there mostly for photo-ops (especially the stilt-walker). I did Aftermath a couple years ago and found it impressive, and it still didn't disappoint. I loved the introduction by the Tina Turner lookalike, followed by opening the gate and heading into a very foggy corridor, before entering the inside of the arena. The use of the existing Batman stunt-show theater makes this one a winner, because it's very big and realistic looking for a post-apocalyptic themed Thunderdome meets Walking Dead sort of maze. Plus, there was fire. The whole thing reminds me a lot of the plane crash scene during Universal's Backlot. My only complaint is that I got few scares, except a couple at the very beginning in the fog, and the energy could've been a little higher. Still, easily one of the two best mazes at the park. 7/10.

 

From there I went to Cursed, which is still pretty lame. Basically you walk through the Tidal Wave queue, through 10,000 hanging "vines" while a handful of scare-actors come at you from the side. Also, after giving you a short safety spiel, they just basically say "Ok, no running. Now, 1, 2, 3.. Go!" and the entire group runs into the maze. Luckily it was a walk-on, since it has the feel of a "better than nothing" filler maze. 2/10.

 

After that, I went to new Weepy Hills INSANEtorium (in DC Universe), which replaced Slaughterhouse, which was one of my favorites from my visit in 2011, so I was looking forward to seeing how this went. Unfortunately, it's pretty clear from the get go that this maze had ZERO budget associated with decorating, as there's nothing on the exterior, and after the pre-show video the rest of the maze is nothing but black plywood walls, with a bed or sink in each room for theming. This was really a step back from the level of quality they'd achieved with Willoughby's and Aftermath, and just looked sad in comparison. However, on the bright side, the talent was working hard and I probably had the most scares in here out of any of the mazes that evening (possibly because I didn't have to worry about admiring the decorations). Also, near the end the maze got pretty dark, so that the black plywood actually kind of worked. 15 minute wait, 5/10.

 

Next up was Total Darkness, located in the theater near Colossus, which has been getting pretty hyped up for it's trick of having guests walk through the maze in darkness, while the group stays together by holding a rope. I like the concept, and there were a couple creepy moments, but I couldn't get over the feeling that there wasn't anything to it. Maybe it needed more audio effects. I also didn't care for holding the rope, I'd prefer if you were really feeling your way through the dark, maybe holding a handrail, or following dim markings on the walls. Also, I don't know what the sign outside warning of static shocks was for, my best guess is they were worried that the fuzzy walls used in the maze would make guests shock each other on accident. Anyways, cool concept, but I know it could be done so much better. 6/10.

 

After that I rode Colossus backwards (in the last car, ie, the back of the station), which was rougher on my back than I remembered, but still a fun experience (about a 15 minute wait), followed by YOLOcoaster (20 minutes).

 

From there I waited about 15 minutes for another new maze, Toyz of Terror, located at Flashback's old station. It had a decent pre-show narrated by the evil toy collector, but the rest of the maze was your typical brightly colored "3D" maze (though without 3D glasses), which looked like the games area threw up it's prizes. However, it had a spinning tunnel that got me pretty dizzy, largely because the people ahead of me moved so slowly, and also because it had a spinning wheel at the end of it, so that you couldn't orient yourself. 5/10.

 

The last maze of the night was Chupacabra, in the Revolution overflow queue, another one I did back in 2011. It's a short maze, but has a good mix of talent, scares, and atmosphere. There were a few especially dark corridors that worked nicely. Also, this is one of the only mazes with a nice looking facade, which I think is always a huge plus in giving a maze its identity. No wait, 6/10.

 

After that I left the park at about 10:30pm. The real standout mazes this year were still Willoughby's and Aftermath; they're the only ones I might see working at an event like Knott's. After those, I still think Chupacabra is a solid maze. Toyz of Terror and Total Darkness are weak, but still interesting enough to be worth checking out. Black Widow looks decent, but it's lacking in scares. And if you want to get the impression that Six Flags doesn't budget ANY money in decorating their mazes, I recommend hitting Cursed, Weepy Hills, and Total Darkness back-to-back; it's kind of funny that the combined budget for those three was probably determined primarily by the cost of plywood, fuzzy cushioning, and hanging vines.

 

One other thing I was impressed by was the usage of pre-shows or introductions in some of the mazes, especially Willoughby's, Aftermath, and Toyz of Terror. Having a pre-show really helps to sell the maze as a more complete package, and the crowd control timing works out better than doing a finale show.

 

Anyways, my next planned haunts will be closer to the end of the month at Queen Mary, Knott's, and HHN.

City Under Siege (aka DC Universe) looks nice at night

Entrance to Total Darkness

Entrance to Toyz of Terror. This area was lacking in atmosphere.

Nice looking entrance to Chupacabra

I had bad luck with getting pictures, so just imagine there's a couple fireballs shooting out every five minutes.

Demon's Door was one of the nicer looking scare zones

[Jew]

I just saw the Camry commercial. I agree that it would be better than anything else at SFMM if it were real!

[Vonni]

I wish more would have went into the HH expansion for 2014. Its been long overdue and what they are bringing in for 2014 just doesnt seem enough. I would have liked to have seen something like SFGAd got last year, along with the drop slides.

[disney4me2001]

I just saw the Camry commercial. I agree that it would be better than anything else at SFMM if it were real!

 

Sadly, it probably had better capacity than a lot of SFMM's rides too!

[WFChris]

Hey everybody, I noticed that the park is open on Thursday October 24th from 4pm - 12am. This seems like either a great opportunity to maybe skip crowds or some horrible physics day-like messy trap. Either way, it's the only day I can go, and I was wondering if anybody knows why it's open that day, and why the bizarre hours?

[DJeXeL]

Weird. Maybe the webmaster has a sick sense of humor.

[SFMMGeek27]

^^Its the last weekend of Fright Fest so they are open Thursday-Sunday. Maze passes are $10 for SPs that day rather than the usual $13. It will be dead so you should try to get over there that day.